Photobiomodulation as an Inflammatory Therapeutic Following Dental Prophylaxis in Canines.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if a single photobiomodulation treatment can reduce oral erythema and edema following routine dental prophylaxis in canines. Background: Photobiomodulation therapy has been documented to accelerate healing time through mitigation of erythema and edema in human and veterinary patients. Methods: Canine patients were randomly assigned into three groups: CG (Control, n = 9, mock gingiva treatment without irradiation), LTG (left side treated, n = 8, irradiation of left upper and lower dental arcade), and RTG (right side treated, n = 7, irradiation of right upper and lower dental arcade). Immediately following anesthetized dental prophylaxis, the canines in the RTG and LTG received four points of irradiation (GaAlInP-650 nm, continuous wave, 0.1 W, 0.2 W/cm(2), 100 sec, 10 J, 20 J/cm(2)). Erythema and edema along the gingival surface of each dental arcade were scored 24 h after treatment by a blinded veterinary evaluator. Analysis of variance and Bonferroni correction were used for data analysis. Results: Using a composite evaluation, there was significantly lower inflammation scores for the RTG (p = 0.017) and LTG (p = 0.025) relative to the CG at the location of the lower right dental arcade. Evaluating erythema individually, a significant reduction was found in the LTG (p = 0.049) when compared with the CG for the lower left dental arcade. Conclusions: Despite the limitations in this study, the canines who received a single photobiomodulation treatment demonstrated some degree of reduction in oral inflammation and erythema following dental prophylaxis.